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Gardening aids those in memory care with sensory smell, touch
BLACKBERRY TOWNSHIP – She knows the dirt, the roots, the delicate stems and petals.
She senses how to arrange the garden for the most aesthetic appeal.
And though she is blind to sight, Ann Linder, resident ofa senior living community, GreenFields of Geneva in Blackberry Township, can “see” from memory the huge raised bed that she and other residents recently filled with grasses and perennial flowers, largely of Linder’s choosing, according to a news release.
![[Ann Linder, a blind master gardener, organized and helped plant the latest raised bed garden at GreenFields of Geneva, a memory care community in Blackberry Township near Geneva.]
“I couldn’t sleep, I was so excited,” Linder stated in the release about the night before the planting was to begin.
A resident of GreenFields for the past two years, Linder is a master gardener whose former homes in Villa Park and St. Charles were adorned with gardens that she photographed and placed into albums that she shares with others at GreenFields, the release stated.](ffb1f3cc-6e71-4733-b578-a0756a2983a1/image-pv_web.jpg)
[Ann Linder, a blind master gardener, organized and helped plant the latest raised bed garden at GreenFields of Geneva, a memory care community in Blackberry Township near Geneva.]
“I couldn’t sleep, I was so excited,” Linder stated in the release about the night before the planting was to begin.
A resident of GreenFields for the past two years, Linder is a master gardener whose former homes in Villa Park and St. Charles were adorned with gardens that she photographed and placed into albums that she shares with others at GreenFields, the release stated.
[Ann Linder, a blind master gardener, organizedand helped plant the latest raised bed garden at GreenFields of Geneva, a memory care community in Blackberry Township near Geneva.]
“I love Mother Nature and sunshine and good rain. It delights me to put my hands in the dirt,’ Linder stated in the release. “It does something to me inside.”
Along with other residents and staff, including life enrichment manager Kathryn Schumpert, Linder created a thing of beauty out of a 20-foot bed built by GreenFields landscapers on the patio of the Willows assisted living neighborhood, the release stated.
[Blind master gardener Ann Linder (left) with friend Katherine Whitman as she gets ready to plant perennials in the latest raised bed garden at GreenFields of Geneva, a memory care community in Blackberry Township near Geneva. Linder designed the garden and chose the plants.]
It is the latest horticultural addition to the GreenFields community, all areas of which have flower and vegetable gardens tended by residents.
“There are lots of plots at GreenFields,” Schumpert stated in the release. “We have flowers, tomatoes and other vegetables, strawberries and herbs. Gardening is an easy form of exercise for seniors and being active is huge here. It helps with fine motor skills in handling the dirt and planting and endurance in helping to shovel and dig.”
Plus, residents and staff enjoy eating the fresh vegetables, the release stated.
Schumpert also cited the impact of garden tending has on memory.
“The plants in the plot at Reflections – GreenFields’ memory care neighborhood – were chosen specifically for their sensory stimulation of familiar feel and smell,” Schumpert stated in the release.
Beyond physical and cognitive benefits, gardening has significant psychological impact as everyone is so happy and positive when they’re out working in the garden, Schumpert stated in the release.
[Residents at GreenFields of Geneva senior living community work on a raised bed garden planting flowers and ornamental grasses. Gardening impacts memory and provides an easy form of exercise.]
Linder was the first one there the day the garden was planted.
“I watched in amazement as she checked the depth of the soil and made sure we squeezed the bottom of the flowers to break up the root ball,” Schumpert stated in the release.
Residents planted clematis, grasses, bleeding hearts and other perennials that Linder recommended, not only for visual beauty but for butterflies and bees, Schumpert said.
The gardens also attract rabbits.
“They eat the plants, especially the lettuce we grew last year, but no one minds,” Schumpert stated in the release.
More information is available by visiting www.GreenFieldsofGeneva.org.